Michael Walker
Adrian Le Roy and his cousin Robert Ballard founded the printing firm 'Le Roy & Ballard', and in August 1551 obtained a royal privilege from Henry II to print music. In February 1553, the company was awarded the title of 'imprimeur du Roi en musique'. Over the following two decades, other rival companies dropped out of the market, and from the 1570s onwards Le Roy & Ballard enjoyed a virtual monopoly in music publishing. The publishing house lasted until the 19th century. While Robert Ballard looked after the business side, Le Roy was the artistic director. He achieved renown as a composer and arranger of songs and instrumentals, his published work includes at least six books of tablature for the lute, 5 volumes for the guitar, and arrangements for the cittern.These compositions are presented in the same order as they appeared in the original work published in Paris by Le Roy et Ballard. They were transcribed from a facsimile edition of the original manuscript and every effort has been made to transcribe the original tablature into modern, easy-to-play, tablature and notation.
